Shhhhhh — I HATE YOU!

Crankeverend (CR) has been watching the current political season play out and the antics of the many candidates. And even with whittling them down to just a few at this point in the game, they are still finding ways to be un-civil to one another — in new and destructive ways. Just today CR read an article on CNN where former Speaker of the House John Boehner called presidential candidate Ted Cruz “Lucifer in the flesh”. It just fits the picture of how we, in our un-progressive society, have recently decided how to deal with people we disagree with — we either Shoot them, Shout them down, or Shut them out. Let CR’s crankiness play this out for you.

With the recent killing of former New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith after a traffic “incident”, we see CR’s first example how our society chooses to handle arguments — someone pulls out their gun and inevitably pulls the trigger.  Instead of trying to find a way to have an argument, a civil discussion, or a way to share our disagreements, we have reached such a level of hatred for each other that killing them is a better choice than walking away.  REALLY?  I am surprised we haven’t seen a good old fashioned gun battle at our presidential debates this year.  Obviously this is where things are going.  But, let’s talk about those debates for just a moment.

I have never witnessed such in-civility among people who are supposed to be “presidential” in their behaviors.  Yes, there have been “angry and ugly” presidential campaigns in the past, look at presidential candidates Thomas Jefferson and John Adams — who were friends in 1776, but became fast foes in the 1800 election — it turned ugly, quickly. Jefferson’s camp accused President Adams of having a “hideous hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman.”  In return, Adams’ men called Vice President Jefferson “a mean-spirited, low-lived fellow, the son of a half-breed Indian squaw, sired by a Virginia mulatto father.”(Founding Fathers’ Dirty Campaign, By Kerwin Swint).  You could say they were the originators of the “smear campaign”.  What bothers CR the most is the inability of people to allow their opponent the opportunity to compete a sentence.  It seems the best tactic is to shout down anyone who opposes your point of view.  This is common on both sides of the political aisle.  And it doesn’t stop with the debates.  Watch any news program that seeks opinions from both sides, and invariably the host will need to step in because everyone is talking at the same time — no one wants to dare allow the others to get their opinion out.  It is un-watchable to say the least. Where is the courtesy — dare I say the courage to listen to your opponent’s point of view and THEN speak?

Finally, when all else fails we just shut people out. We keep them out of the conversation or we pull ourselves out — take our collective ball and go home — because we don’t get our way or we have offended everyone so much they can’t stand us. Recently Bruce “Spring-sings-flat” and Bryan Adams cancelled a concert because they disagreed with a law passed in a particular southern State. It is the same illogical argument — if you disagree with something or someone, instead of staying in the discussion, you leave — you shut people out of a conversation by denying one.

What a picture of America. This is what we choose to hold out as a beacon to the world? Makes CR CRANKY. All CR can say is G-d better bless us all — because there is just too much hate — and HATE makes this Crankeverend Cranky.